The invention relates to vehicle mirrors and, more particularly, to mirrors whose reflective properties may be adjusted, and to cross-view mirrors with added functionality.
Vehicle mirrors are known in the art and are used in various situations. For example, a rear-view mirror is typically mounted inside of a vehicle with a line of sight designed so as to produce an image for a driver corresponding to objects appearing behind the vehicle. A side-view mirror has a similar function but is typically mounted outside the vehicle on both the driver and passenger sides. Cross-view mirrors are typically used on school buses and possibly on other large vehicles, and are mounted to provide a view of the ground in front of and alongside the vehicle. Cross-view mirrors and other types of vehicle mirrors are shown and described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,436,372; 4,822,157; 4,938,578; 5,084,785; 5,576,899; and 6,328,450—the entirety of the contents of each of which patents is hereby incorporated by reference.
Basically, in large vehicles such as buses, and particularly in the case of a school bus, cross view mirrors are mounted on front fenders of the bus. The cross-view mirror assists the driver in locating children or other pedestrians who may be near the bus. To illustrate the use of such a cross-view mirrors, as shown generally in FIG. 1, a driver 50 of a bus 52 has a line of sight 54 where driver 50 can see objects including traffic and pedestrians. However, when children or other pedestrians 56 are dropped off from bus 52, children 56 may choose to run directly in front of bus 52 or along the side bus 52—both locations being outside the line of sight 54 of driver 50. To avoid harming the children, a cross-view mirror assembly 58 is installed—typically on both the left and right front fenders of bus 52. Cross-view mirror assembly 58 is installed within line of sight 54 and produces a reflected image as so to enable driver 50 to see directly in front of bus 52 and along the side of bus 52, including in the directions 54a which cover the ground and space in front of the bus. A view seen by the driver in one of the cross-view mirrors is provided in FIG. 1a. 
Cross-view mirror assembly 58 is comprised of a mirror support 60 and a mirror 62. Mirror support 60 is used to mount mirror 62 to bus 52. As shown in FIG. 2, mirror 62 includes a convex lens 64, a reflecting surface 68, and a non-reflective backing surface 70 adhered to reflecting surface 68, typically just a layer of paint. A support 66, attached to the lens 68, has a fastening mechanism 66a by which the mirror unit can be held by the support 60. Lens 64 may be made of a transparent and rigid acrylic plastic and is therefore, see-through. Reflecting surface 68 may be a metal such as aluminum and non-reflective backing surface 70 may be simply a coat of paint.
Prior art cross-view mirrors do not provide an ability to change the reflective properties of the cross-view mirror reflective surface. Although, some have used tinting for reducing glare from an upper portion of the mirror, such approach may result in the upper surface of the mirror being too dark, particularly during the night hours. The invention is an improvement upon the above described arrangements and structures.